Painted Petals
by faorism
Summary: Non-AU BR. The needle scars and the occasional yearning for a trip are what is left, the only physical things to remind me. But every time I look into his warm, almost forgiving, eyes, I remember the one night when the drugs ruled and I went too far.
1. Chapter 1

I realized that I haven't been on this site in so long, as either a reader or a writer. Things have been a bit turbulent lately, but I think that I am finally able to get back on track with my fanfictioning. I decided to edit this fiction, seeing that there were only minor mistakes that I could see, before anything else. Author's notes are pretty much the same, except when I felt like such a n00bcake, where I erased bits and pieces.

Author's Notes: Hey, everyone! Well, I am between multi-chapter stories. But before I start my next long story, I decided to have a short tendershipping. Hooray! Go Bakura and Ryou! They are one of my favorite couples, but I think they aren't represented enough as an un-established couple. I got the idea for this from my story, 'It's a Wonderful World'. It's like a spin-off. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: On Yugioh, are there mass amounts of teen-aged, gay couples? How about major gay sex between hot characters? Has a certain brunette given up her attempts of getting a certain ex-pharaoh and has then started her very own yuri couple with a certain puppy's sister? No? Then I don't own Yugioh.

Warnings: Couples- Bakura/Ryou, Atemu/Yuugi, Seto/Joey, Honda/Otogi, Anzu/Serenity; mention of past- physical abuse, rape, drug abuse and use, Bakura/Atemu; OOC and appearance altering (in the slightest bit); cursing; and last but not least, lemon.

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

Chapter One

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

Looking upon his face was like doing so upon an angel's. By stealing this time before I must wake him from his light slumber, I was able to do such a sin. This sin was not one that you can find in some bible. No. This sin was of having impure eyes set upon perfection.

Sighing, I combed my gray and silver hair, several strands of black in the mix, with my thin fingers. I felt so defeated. Why in the name of Ra was I assigned the duty to wake him? I was as incompetent in this simple task as the pharaoh is at any job given to him. As I rubbed my naked, pale shoulder, I seated myself on the edge of his mattress. My body twisted to the head of the bed as I continued to watch him through my dusty, Prussian blue eyes, my black pajama pants wrinkling at the crotch and knees.

My skin, though a tad pale, was nothing compared to his creamy, soft flesh. As he reached the end of his teen years, the ever so delicate features that graced him when we first met had sharpened; revealing him as a man and not a child, though I often refer to him as one. He still was extremely effeminate, but he was an effeminate man, at that. Several silver hoops and studs adorned his paper-thin ears, all of which he acquired in the past year. Another silver stud ran through the skin of his fine eyebrow. His hair, however, covered most of his ear ornaments. The thick tresses of newly fallen snow waved down from his scalp to rest on the pillow.

I leaned forward, grabbing his forearm in the process. As always, his skin was cool. I hardly felt it any warmer than this, except when he had a fever. The chill was inviting, however, making you want more. His extremely fair, silky complexion, his perfect features, and this chill made him seem, almost, like a porcelain doll.

Smiling at my thought, I gingerly shook him and whispered his name into his ear, "Ryou."

He stirred, shifting from side to side. His eyelids twitched to close more. The boy rolled over. If it had not been for my lower back holding him up by his stomach, he would have landed on the floor. I bit my lip, due to his pelvis pushing hardly at the top of my pants and the small of my back. Suppressing a slight moan, I tried again. "Ryou."

The boy sighed deeply. In one, swift movement, he held my wrist, pulling my open hand under his cheek touching the pillow.

I was trapped because of the feather-filled fabric, the boy's head and the fragile fingers around my wrist. I pushed further in between him and the pillow. As I did, my fingertips brushed against the porcelain surface, until I reached my destination, his hair. Even as he slept, his hair was perfectly unknotted and as soft as ever.

I played with some of the strands for another minute before leaning down, again. Before I had the chance to say anything, the boy's eyes sprung open, revealing the most luxurious, dark chocolate puddles the mortal world has ever seen. "You know, you are way too gentle in waking me up."

Silently, I watched as he rubbed his eyes and face with the hand not clenched around the base of my palm. Ryou licked around his lips. It was a sight I had to miss because a blush would have definitely crawled up my face if I continued to look at him. His attention turned back at me. "G'morning, my dark," he said groggily.

"Same to you, my light. You were awake?" He created a noise, representing 'yes' for an answer. He closed his eyes, grabbing my trapped wrist with both hands while pressing his face deeper into my palm. "May you tell me why you didn't alert me of your consciousness?" Yet another noise came from the boy, this time to give the opposite response than the first. Rolling my eyes, I asked, "May I have my hand back?"

Without a hint of warning, Ryou yanked me down and onto his bed. I landed awkwardly, since my top half was on the bed and my legs were hanging off the side. My other half, one of the many nicknames I have for the object of my desires, rearranged me gracefully using his arms and legs. I got these nicknames from the pharaoh, since he was always naming his own light with the sweet titles. Ryou wrapped his arms around my waist and his legs around my thigh, pulling me close enough to see the golden, wispy strands of hair covering his skin.

I tensed with the closeness. I could smell the natural aroma of roses curling from him. If I didn't know better, I would have thought he drowned himself in a tub filled to the rim with attar made of the purest flowers from the afterlife. But I knew that the only thing he ever applied was plain smelling deodorant, shampoo, and conditioner. I wondered how he acquired such a sweet smell as the boy sleepily buried his forehead into my muscled chest. "But you're so warm," my light said, a slur hidden in his words, "Why would I ever let you go?"

I embedded my chin into the pale boy's cotton tresses. Another wave of defeat ran through my blood as I enveloped Ryou, his biceps caught in my hug. I softly traced the bumps where my lighter side's spine protruded from the otherwise tight, velvety skin. He was so cold. I could feel it through his tank top and from the exposed portions of his legs where his dark navy boxers didn't cover. Even so, I had to use all my strength not to lose control and start ripping off the little clothing we had on. Whoever said that coldness was not an aphrodisiac was a retarded bastard.

"Little one," I said after several moments. "We have to get up."

My hikari, another one of my nicknames, moaned annoyingly, shaking his head against my torso. He embraced me closer, accidentally rubbing his hips into my own. Or at least, I presume it was accidentally. Lately, he had been doing and saying pretty lecherous things toward me. Why, I had yet to figure out. "It's just Friday. No one will care if we're absent one day. Besides, I want to stay here with you, Bakura. You're like a big, warm teddy bear. Come on. It's our senior year and it's just one day. Please, Kura."

Damn this angelic boy. Damn him, and his 'Kura' card too. He knew perfectly well that that was one of my only, only, weaknesses. And the sly kid could abuse this power over me, like the playground bully who held a doll just out of reach of its owner. It was cruel of him, and he enjoyed using this weakness to control me.

With a force born from my tortured heart, I responded, "N-No. You have to wake up."

He whimpered, shortly afterwards inhaling my very masculine scent, or at least how Ryou described it. "Fine," he mumbled. "But you have to help me up." The fair light unraveled us. As I stood, I felt lonely and empty; missing that chill he gave me. I grabbed his slightly smaller hands, and jerked him off the white linen-covered mattress and onto his bare feet.

"You suck, Bakura. I hope you know that. Here I was, sleeping so peacefully and then, boom, you have to wake me up. Have you no shame? No guilt?" Ryou pouted his tender, pink lips. They held a perfect shape, and there seemed to be no wrinkled crease on them. How I wanted to claim these pink petals as mine. Oh, how I wanted to claim them, as I had done a night years ago.

Yes, for one night, these lips were mine. Not only that, but all of Ryou. I had the entire light at my mercy for one, unforgettable night. It had only been months after I was freed from the Sennen Ring, after having my soul imprisoned in the item for about three thousand years. I am sure it was not because everyone wanted me freed, like in the case of my fellow yami: Atemu, or as he was named in my time when he was a pharaoh. (Now, he was simply known as Yami to most, Atemu to only his closest friends.) My separation from the item was to keep me from inflicting any more harm on my lighter half's mind. I was put under Ryou's supervision, in his father's residence. His father, as an archeologist, was hardly around, and still only shows up for only a weekend every couple of months. (When he visits, I freeload off of Atemu. The man loved me, thinking of me as the boy's guardian due to how protective I am of him.)

Despite their initial expectations, Ryou's closest friends, seven of them at least, thought we were doing just fine. They were Joey, Seto, Yuugi, Otogi, Honda, Anzu and Serenity. Yuugi is the pharaoh's hikari. My light would hang out with them everyday during and after school, a smile always plastered on his face. He would probably tell them of how well I was doing and that I just didn't want to come to school.

I am sure that only one person, Atemu, had known the truth. He knew that Ryou would return to a home where a monster resided. That monster, obviously, was me. I would be high, off a drug my dealer said gave a good ride. Whether a pill, joint or needlepoint had induced my false euphoria, I honestly didn't give a damn. All I was concerned with was that it could temporarily make me forget my dark past. The needle scars and the occasional yearning for just one more trip are what are left to remind me of my habits. When he returned home from school, the drugs would have only begun to work. I usually reached my climax just after my sweet, little Ryou finished his homework. If he was lucky, I would lock myself in a room, waiting the rest of the trip off, alone.

If he were unlucky, I would find him in his room, sitting patiently on the desk chair for me. Even then, I loved him. I have always, always loved him. And when I would see his innocent, flawless eyes, the eyes I would never have for myself, I wanted to dim them for whoever stole my light's heart from me. I struck any part of him that would have been hidden under his clothes. Sometimes I used more than just my fists, hitting him with whatever I could lay my hands on. But alas, every time I entered his room, his chocolate orbs greeted me with the same amount of welcome.

I smiled softly, raising my left hand to Ryou's hair. I pushed one of his many bangs behind his ear. I thumbed his ear lobe, as well as several earrings. After his eyebrows knitted in confusion, I dragged my fingertips to those pink petals, stroking them once I reached them. During the few times I ever caught him shirtless, I knew he still had some noticeable scars. "Oh, I know what guilt is, my light. I know what guilt is." The words barely came out as a whisper, but even so, I could see they had a heavy effect on the other male in the room.

Then, one night, that one night, I went too far. My dealer, Keith, gave me some pills that he wanted his best customer to try, on the house. Muzion, he called them. It had great effects for everyone who had tried it so far. Unfortunately, I did not receive the desired high. My trip was the worst I had ever experienced. And when I entered the room, I forgot about robbing the happiness from his eyes. I decided that I was going to do what I wanted.

One of the most horrible sins one can commit is forcibly taking a person's virginity, this I discovered that night.

What made it worse was that, never once, did he tell me to stop. Nor did he attack me. He complied with my every demanding action, kissing me passionately back when I pressed my mouth to his. Ryou even arched his back when it was right to, screaming my name, and he came for me just before I did for him. It would have been perfect, if it had not been for the fact that I was raping him.

When I woke up the next morning, as far as I remember, his lithe body was still within my tired arms. I had slept with my head tucked into the curve of his ribcage. The sight of the nude teen had both exhilarated and disgusted me. We were both so young. And I knew it was one thing to abuse him as I had been doing (not that it was right), but it was another to force myself on him. Yet, Ryou was so beautiful, so thrilling to caress. I recall waiting until he had awakened to leave. There wasn't an exchange of words or glances or grumbles or weird, telling vibes. Once he woke up, I simply stood up and left quietly without ever looking into his eyes.

I had only one more trip, about a week later. When I stalked into his room, I expected to find him at his chair. I didn't. My pure half was lying without socks on his bed. His legs were bent and separated, like he was preparing for me to take him again. He had stopped wincing in pain or awkwardness every time he moved just the day before, and the boy probably wasn't anywhere near mentally ready. But he was still there, waiting. I climbed onto the bed and collapsed onto him. Ryou awkwardly went to kiss me, but I refused. I must have cried into his chest until I fell asleep. I would say that was my turning point.

My fingers dropped from his lips to my side. My hikari blushed regretfully. "Sorry. I didn't mean to bring it up."

The smile tugged at my lips. I leaned down a couple of inches, since he was only a bit shorter than me, and kissed Ryou on the forehead. "It's not your fault. Just get ready. You know I like being early." He nodded before quickly shooing me out of his room, calling for privacy.

I walked over to my own room, just down the hall from Ryou's. It was nowhere as neat as his, but I don't think the ever wonderful Elton John could get a room that clean. I opened my closet. With about a second of thought, I pulled out a pair of light black suit pants with thin, mauve stripes running down them and a plain, white t-shirt. From under the bed, I retrieved my checked black and white Vans. On both of my wrists I had ten black bands. I saw no need for a jacket. I took my shoulder bag, which held my school supplies and books for the day, and went to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, I grabbed a red apple from the fruit bowl. Scratching my neck absentmindedly, I went up in front of the sink and washed the fruit in hand. Though we may not be vegetarian, Ryou and I ate a lot like we were. The two of us ate red meat only once or twice a week, if even that.

Whimpering slightly, I thought of my previous diet, filled with bloody steaks and such. Curse my light, for making me eat healthy. The total unlikelihood that he would be able to do it was extremely high. The notion that he was able to convert me to his picky-eating ways is enough not to curse him.

I looked down at the running faucet and vocally expressed my thoughts by mumbling, "How the hell did he get me to give up my precious meat?"

"I played the infamous 'Kura' card. How else?" A voice said behind me, somewhere near the doorframe of this room. I laughed, turning off the sink and drying off the apple with a paper towel. I tossed the damp rectangle into the trash before finally turning to my light.

As I expected, he stood at the entrance to the kitchen, leaning against its side. He wore low ridding, black jeans. A studded belt encircled the waist of the said jeans. Ryou had a fishnet, long sleeve shirt on, which hung off the shoulders. The sleeves did not end at the wrists. Instead, the top and bottom were connected in the space between his middle and index fingers. On top of this, he had a skin-tight, Indian red tank top. My hikari's favorite duo of shoes, his high-top, black Converses, adorned his feet.

I bit into the red peel, frowning as I chewed. "I always thought you knew about that evil trick. How could you use that against me, my innocent light? How could you?"

My opposite beamed. His lips were now painted black and his eyes were lined with kohl. He began dressing like this some time ago. When I had asked why (not that I was disappointed in the least bit), Ryou jokingly said he knew what I liked and wanted to look sexy for me. His true reasoning still eluded me. But he was right; I was much more attracted to him in this attire than his former sweater vest-blue jeans outfits. For a couple of seconds, I just let my eyes feed upon his gorgeous view. Only the small, rational voice in my head told me not to strip off his clothing and suck on his body until I couldn't anymore. Sadly, rationality won and I just walked up to him.

"I don't know. You just rubbed off on me. Speaking of rubbing, can you help me with my choker? I can't put it on tight enough and it keeps on slipping."

"How does rubbing have anything to do with a choker?"

The teen smiled wickedly. "Rubbing and chokers have all the relation in the world, Bakura, if you think hard enough. It's simply a matter of doing it. 'Doing it' and 'hard' being the operative words."

"You're funny."

"I know. I'm just a walking riot. But no matter how amazing I am, being that I'm a walking riot and all, I cannot seem to put this choker on. May you help?"

I locked eyes with my hikari, admiring how black his makeup seemed against his ever so pale skin. "No. Tell me why I had to get stuck with the evil hikari and then I'll help you." I lifted my apple and sunk my teeth into it. The second I removed my mouth from it, I felt Ryou's hands take my hand and breakfast in its grasp.

His deep brown orbs shone brilliantly. "Please, Kura." He leant forward and toward his hands, his mouth sliding open into an o-shape. His now painted petals for lips pressed against the outside of my apple. There was a crunching sound. A stream of clear juice trickled down the curve of the apple and pooled at a joint in my finger. "Please."

Slowly, my light brought his head back up, his mouth moving back and forth in a gnawing movement. Some of the fruit's liquor erupted from the side of his lips. His tongue jetted out and licked up the excess juice. To top it off, he did it tantalizingly slow. I had half a mind to strangle him and his damn appealing actions. Well, if I am strangling things, I might as strangle my perverse mind.

"What?" Ryou asked innocently. "I was hungry. So, Kura dear, can you help me or will you just be a huge ass and not?"

Though I hated to fall right into his trap, I sighed, set down my apple and held out my empty hand. My hikari smirked, taking his choker from a back pocket and placed it in my palm. Turning, he picked up the ends of his tresses so I could have easy access. I properly put the necklace on, tight enough so it didn't fall, but loose enough so he could breathe and move comfortably.

"See. Was that so hard?"

Rolling my eyes, I picked my apple back up. "We are going to be late. Let us depart from our humble home, shall we?" I ambled past him, finishing my fruit as I did so. I opened the front door. The bright sunrays twirled into the house. Ignoring them, I went across the path bisecting the lawn to my motorcycle. My bike was painted pure ebony. Damn. I really do have too many dark colored things.

Tossing the now eaten apple into an open-lid garbage can, I fished around for the keys of the vehicle in my bag. Finding them, I took them out before getting onto my bike. Sighing emptily, I turned to the front door just as Ryou closed it. He had his checkered backpack clinging onto one shoulder.

Combing my hair with my fingers instinctually, I called out, "Come on, Ryou! You move so damn slow!" He laughed his entrancing laugh, something close to the child of a giggle and a gasp.

He sped over to the motorcycle and hopped on behind me. His cold hands landed on my hips, over the pants but below the shirt. My light, pushing with his palm, guided his fingers to my inner thighs. Using his thumbs, he rubbed some circles into the fabric of my pants. My pale knuckle curved tightly over the bike's handle.

Ryou leaned forward, so his chest was pressed up against my back and my shoulder supported his chin. Blowing into my ear, my smaller self cooed, "I'll go faster if you like. Just give me the word and I'll go faster." The thumbs working circles went to their job with more force and speed.

I loved this. There was no use denying it. I was enjoying this. But then, that retarded rational part of me told me what this truly was. This little thing was just Ryou's game. He saw nothing in me. Therefore, this whole performance was just a performance. Nothing more. With regret burning my insides, I said, "Stop playing around, little one. And, please, just, don't do that again."

He froze, midway circle. With a short-lived sigh, he brought his hands to my stomach, over the shirt, and distanced his abdomen appropriately. After my hikari slid his forehead to the small of my neck, I finally jarred up the motorcycle and turned it to the direction of the school.

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

A/N: Hey! First chapter is done, only a couple more to go. (Remember, this is a short story). Anyways, I know I kinda mutilated Ryou's overall appearance. But it's for good reason. Those sweater-vests were doing him no good, and I do think Bakura would be more attracted to him dressed in this way. Just remember that people do worst things than what I just did. Just read on and enjoy.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hey, y'all! How's it been? Hope you like the last chapter; I certainly did. Hope you guys like this chapter!

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

Chapter Two

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

My engine roared to a stop inside a yellow-outlined box on dirty tar. The school's parking lot had just been painted, so the boxes shined in comparison to the blackness to its sides. The bike's weight, slim surface to balance on, and stillness caused it to tilt left. Holding out my corresponding leg, I gave the motorcycle the support it needed not to completely fall over. I removed the keys and placed them in my bag still slung on my shoulder. I ran my hand through my wind-blown hair. I waited for another minute before sighing deeply.

"Little one, you will have to release me one of these days." Inside my head, I blushed at the slight innuendo. Innuendo or not, I still had arms wrapped around my middle, and a forehead up against my upper back and lower neck. It had been awkward to drive the bike in such a position, but I had said nothing. My light moved behind me and he slid off the bike. He took several steps away as I got off myself.

Toeing the peg to give the motorcycle the balance lost when I got off, I turned to my light. Ryou had his back to me. His spine curved inward near the bottom, much like the dork of a pharaoh's did. "Come on, hikari. Everyone is probably waiting for us." With head hung low, his right hand was rubbing absently at his left bicep through the fishnet holes. I readjusted my bag and stepped up behind him.

I reached out for the boy's shoulder. When I did, the muscles there tightened and Ryou's head flinched to face the other direction. Without a second of warning, my light held my fingers within his own, much like he had in his bedroom. "Ryou, what are you--."

"Were you being serious before?" His voice was hollow as he whispered.

"What?" This word seemed foolish as it escaped my lips. I could only imagine myself with my head tilted slightly left, my eyebrows raised and lowered to different levels, and my eyes screaming out my confusion.

My light interrupted my thoughts. "When we were on the motorcycle, you totally disregarded me."

"Okay, but no more than usual."

He shifted, shaking his head. "Do I really make you that uncomfortable? And don't lie, Kura. Don't lie to me."

I blinked several times, confusion entering my mind. It was odd how his pet name came out. I was certain that he didn't mean to, like he would when he wanted something from me. It probably was out of force of habit. But even so, he must want me to tell the truth badly if he let that slip. The way he sounded now was almost desperate. But why in hell would he feel like this? Damn. It was way too early in the morning for this shit. "Look, Ryou--."

"Don't you dare, my dark. Tell me the answer, without the bull." What the hell? When was Ryou ever so direct and forceful?

"Fine. Do you want me to tell you? Yes, you do make me uncomfortable. Happy?" I said that without any recognizable sarcasm. That's not very good.

"Oh." Pause. Fuck all awkward pauses. Let them burn. Let them burn and die. "I didn't know that you felt that way." My light breathed. His thin digits were removed from around my hand, once again leaving me with a deep yearning for his chilling contact. He twisted one of his earrings. "Come on, we need to go. You're right. Our friends are probably waiting already." He took a few quick steps forward, his corn silk hair waving vertically with each footfall.

No. I was not going to let it end like this. I, once again, took him by the shoulder as he walked by the front of a blue SUV's passenger seat door. Without too much force because I wasn't looking to hurt him, I made my hikari turn. I caught his chin, bringing it up so I could stare into those beautiful eyes. "I didn't mean it like that." I said softly, cupping his ear while still holding his face still.

"You know I didn't mean it like that." I repeated myself. This time I ran the index finger belonging to the hand previously at his chin down his throat, bumping over his chocker. For a second, as my nimble touch flew over his Adam's apple, I would have sworn my hikari whimpered throatily. I couldn't truly tell, because his actual face made no movement.

"Really. What did you mean then?" My light half closed an unnoticeable distance between us. His golden lashes flicked sweetly when I felt his hands positioned at my hips. Ryou's thumbs hooked onto my belt loops, giving him absolute power over our closeness.

I could feel him being so close. My mind hazed over. I inclined toward him until my cheek brushed against his, hugging him around the middle. I nuzzled with affection at the edge of my hikari's hairline. I could smell his rosy aura strongly. "I have to watch my every step. I feel I may do something inexcusable, as I have done in the past. You're just so—I can't do it again." Shutting my eyes tightly, I kissed his jawbone. I was met with cold skin, but I accepted it gratefully. Ryou directed the movement of our feet until a light bumping sound entered our ears.

Transferring the effort of our weight onto the car door, my hikari said, "You know nothing you do to me would be inexcusable. I will allow anything to be done to me if it was by you. I won't say no." My kiss trailed his jaw, ignoring his chin. My lips begged to capture his soft petals in rapture.

Concluding my decision within seconds, I pressed us completely against the automobile. One mouth hovered over another's. His inhales were my exhaled breath. With a shivering lower lip, the other me shut his chocolate circles from the world and slid his mouth open. I sunk my teeth into the twittering flesh, a mewling my quick response. My tongue seeped through my mouth and freely licked the warm rim of Ryou's mouth. Warm? Yes, even though his skin could give frostbite, I remember now how hot having your tongue inside his wet hollow was.

I teased him by slipping the tip of my moist muscle down the curve of his lip, taking it back once I felt teeth. Yet to start kissing, I continued by simply tracing the outline of his black lipstick. Ryou moaned shamelessly, withering so much I had to hold him up with an arm. My light, seeing how he was having trouble keeping up straight, gripped onto my shoulders from behind. And just as I was about to actually place my mouth over his, instead of coating his mouth with a thin layer of saliva as I had been doing, the most horrible sound erupted from my hikari's checkered backpack.

Ring.

I stopped my free roaming in its tracks. My lips screamed for me to ignore the sound, and just move less than an inch forward. They screamed to cover the entrance of my hikari's searing hot cavern with an open mouth. They screamed for that touch they only vaguely recalled from years before.

Ring.

His eyes cracked open when I guiltily retracted my tongue and the arm holding him up. Taking the message, the boy let me go. We were both panting, I more than him. Were we holding the breath the entire time? He stood upright again, but this time, close enough so when I breathed out, his snowy hair would rustle.

Ring.

"Fuck." He whispered, reaching into a side pocket of his bag, removing a cell phone. He flipped it open, putting the receiving end to his ear.

"Hello?" Ryou asked, a hint of annoyance present in his voice. "Atemu? What do you want?" A moment passed. I could hear the pharaoh's voice, but could not understand what he was saying. The boy pouted, raising an eyebrow in my direction. "That's it? We weren't there early, like Bakura usually likes it, so Yuugi got worried. Nice."

With a slight smirk, I shrugged. It wasn't my fault our friends were accustomed to us coming in much before needed. Ryou sighed, shaking his head. He rested his forehead on my shoulder as if exhausted. As Atemu talked, my light pushed his lips onto my T-shirt. I ignored it, shifting my weight from one leg to the other in boredom.

My little Ryou giggled. "You need to get your mind outta the gutter. Imagine what Yuugi would say if he heard you talking like that. But don't worry. If that were to happen, I will make sure we call you so you are the first to know… Okay, Bakura's coming right now. Bye."

He hung up, pocketing the phone. "Atemu, Seto and Joey are waiting in the locker room. It'll be more convenient for you to go straight there than to drop me off at Humanities." He returned the support of his head from my shoulder to his neck.

"What was Atemu talking about? I don't want him polluting my hikari's innocent mind."

Ryou laughed, as he began walking toward the school, me a few steps behind. "That is for me and your husband to know, and you to find out."

"Husband?" I said as we entered the school. The gymnasium, and its locker rooms, was on the ground floor, this floor. Ryou's first period class was three floors up.

"Atemu, duh." My light opened the doors to the staircase next to the main entrance. I rolled my eyes, earning a laugh. "Oh come on. How much you guys flirt is ridiculous. And everyone knows about your fling in ancient Egypt. I swear, if Atemu wasn't already taken by Yuugi, I could just so see you guys together."

I knew that would come back and bite me in the ass one of these days. Stupid, fucking pharaoh. He was bored one day and decided to make me mad, why I do not know. He told the entirety of Ryou's clique about our past, past affair if you must name it. Yet another reason I should bash his brains out from his damned high horse.

"Yeah, okay. I can really see what you mean. I swear." I pecked him on the nose as a farewell, his departure up the staircase following. I pivoted in the direction of the hallway leading to the gym.

I opened the door to the high ceiling-ed, pumpkin orange room, only to see a group of much shorter girls. They were probably in their first year in middle school, or as we called them here, sevens. When they saw me, there was an outbreak of high-pitched squeals and giggles. Most had a dreamy, wanting expression. One blond actually pointed at me and whispered rabidly to her friends. It was basic knowledge to avoid such females, for who knew what in the world a group of hormonal preteens would do.

"May I get in, girls?" I asked nervously. They parted for me. I could have sworn one had said, "I wonder who did that?" but I dismissed it. Girls these days are getting stranger and stranger, especially the ones that might think you are hot. Thank the gods the only two females I really knew, Anzu and Serenity, were gay and together. I entered the male locker room. I was greeted by the faint scent of human sweat, strange because it was before first period and no one had used the room beforehand. I would bet that, over the years of constant use, the noxiously green walls in the room absorbed the smell.

I maneuvered through the crowd of half naked flesh, exactly why I hated being late. I was smashed into a locker by some guy who wasn't paying attention just before reaching my destination: the back of the tight room.

This space was reserved for Yami, Seto, Joey and me. Actually, it was for any boys the others were "uncomfortable" changing with. This situation was better than before our little clique came along. Together, we started the school's Gay-Straight Alliance to protect ourselves and, as we had found out with the amount of people attending our club, many others in the school. For example, some burnouts almost got away with forcing Ryou to change in the girl's lockers for weeks on end. They did it, not because he was gay per se (no one was really sure which way he rolled, and more importantly I didn't), but because he hung out with the gay kids in the school. Being co-president of the GSA with Yami probably didn't help the situation. They didn't stop because the administration found out about their "good-humored" pranks. But, you see, I did.

After I had a nice, long heart-to-heart with the burnouts, the GSA took the whole locker room subject up with the administration. And because of this little thing that the school hypes called tolerance, we were "allowed" to change with the rest, and those fuckinghomophobes were made to change with us. And yes, fuckinghomophobe is a single word. But we were moved to the back. It went without saying. The same is true with all my friends, except for Anzu and Serenity because girls seem to not have a problem. It's sad, because these homophobes made up so little of the population and their influence extended to those who really wouldn't have minded at all.

Yami, sitting on a bench with his one foot resting on the wooden surface, laughed at me. He wore the gym uniform on his tan skin, and he had his brick red tipped, black hair tied into a ponytail. The past pharaoh pushed several of his dark blond bangs away, allowing his crimson eyes to watch me push pass the mass of men. "Nice to finally see you, Baki dear. Thought you might have run out on me. I was ready to call the cops and everything." His usually monotonous tone whined.

Yes, Yami had a boyfriend, his little hikari. And yes, Yami knew perfectly well how I loved my own light. But we still played around, with the consent of Yuugi, of course. When I finally enter into the clearance at the back of the room, I nearly fell down to the floor when one of the guys "accidentally" knocked his elbow into my shoulder. I wish that just once violence on school grounds were justifiable. The bronze male looked oddly at me, amusement laced into his gaze. I walked up behind my formal lover, kissing his on the temple as I passed him. "Cheat on you, Atemu? Never."

"Why were you late?" I took my gym uniform out of my bag. It consisted of an ugly, gray shirt and emerald green shorts. Honestly, the people who came up with the school colors must have been high. Who puts green with gray? Bunch of retards.

"It was nothing. Traffic down by Main Street." Throwing my things in an empty locker, I slipped off my Vans. I stuffed them into the enclosed compartment. My fingers worked the button and zipper of my pants.

"Nothing? So nothing leaves lipstick on your collar? And how odd, it's Ryou's shade."

Wide-eyed, I glanced down to the rim of my shirt. Sure enough, a mark of my light was painted onto the white tee. No wonder why those girls laughed. Feeling my face grow hot, not enough to blush since I don't blush in public, I turned my back to the pharaoh and continued to get dressed.

"Nothing works in mysterious ways."

Being the nosy brat he is, Yami said, "Anything new today? I had a, feeling he might say something to you soon. Did he?" 'He' referring to my hikari, as it always did.

A loud shout came from the other end of the room. Stupid, obnoxious teenaged boys. "I'll tell you during our free period." I put on my last article of the uniform, shoes. They were just Converses I declared were only for gym, but whatever. My hair was too long to be loose, so I tied it back just as my fellow yami had.

Ready and set, I looked around, finally realizing that we were missing two people, a blue-eyed brunet and his beau. "Where are Seto and--?"

"Joey? In the shower room." The male speaking got up, straightening his clothes the best he could, but with these uniforms, there was no hope. Utterly lost cause to begin with.

"But those things don't work. No one even ever goes in there anymore."

Yami laughed, jumping up onto the benches cutting through the entire room. Stepping over anyone else's items, he began to cross. I hated to do this, as it made me seem like a total buffoon, but I got up after him. "I think that's the point."

"Honestly, they act like they don't get enough at home." Pausing as a shorter boy took his book bag out of my way, I saw Yami leap off onto the floor.

"Hypocrite." The tricolor-haired teen accused. I stepped off the bench next to him, nearly bumping into some eighth grader. They really did need to make these locker rooms bigger. "You would be ravishing your hikari if he was set up in your class. I know I could if I had mine."

"Hardy har. We both know that I would never do that to the boy."

The pharaoh leaned into my chin and draped his arms over my shoulders. "Don't you mean, never again?" Frost collected in my veins with that one, suggested correction. His voice flattened to emotionless.

"What?" A miscellaneous boy, who had been waiting for us to move, pushed past us with a short apology.

"You mean you would never touch him like that again, don't you?" I didn't know how to respond, how to act. I had always felt he knew. But never before had he said something about it. My fist clenched when he continued. "We will talk later, for now--."

"What are you guys doing just standing here?" If there was a prize for perfect timing, an award, or just a plaque or something, let it be bestowed to the gracious hands of Joey. Heavens know he deserved it. The blond was panting slightly, his cheeks flushed. As the teen rolled his eyes, he complained about losers who stand around the locker rooms chatting like girls. He wrapped his arms around Yami's neck and mine and began to steer us to the gym. I heard Seto behind us, though he wasn't talking. Just like his lover, his breathing was heavy.

Taking a peek at the other yami being dragged by Joey, I felt like our shared free period would come too quick for comfort.

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

A/N: So… yeah. That's it. I had a lot of trouble with this chapter. The very beginning and the entire end was written, edited (by me), added to, deleted, written again, added to and then edited (by my editor and bestest buddy, ifthedeadwerealive). I have finally added everyone's name into my Word's dictionary. I was tired of seeing that my computer program had red underlined Seto or Yami or Bakura. I even added in Kura, because frankly, it is Bakura's best nickname. I am surprised I didn't earlier. Anyway, review or don't. I will continue writing both ways. I would appreciate hearing from you though. See you!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Okay. I am writing this story a bit oddly. Though it is totally tendershipping, you could also say that this is Bakura's healing, from beginning (which includes the actual act) to end. I am trying my best to get the story across. I guess that means I have to have the genre under both romance and general, huh? Sorry. I am ranting. Just read and enjoy.

Disclaimer: Do you think if I killed Kazuki Takahashi, I would own Yugioh? Well, for now at least, I have no rights over the show, and anything else I might happen to mention in the story.

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

Chapter 3

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

"Kura!" His normally soft voice screamed. It was becoming rough and scratchy from the amount of noise it had made. His hands were clumsily climbing up and down my naked back. My skin tingled every time his touch was removed from me. Wrapping his leg lightly around the middle of my spine, he tried to prevent me from moving too far. His attempt failed, because I was still able to separate from him to bury myself in his hot, virgin entrance with enough force to hear his pleasured moaning.

I licked him, hungrily biting into him afterwards. Salt covered his sweet taste in my mouth, due to the newly forming sweat curving down his chin to fall to his neck. A vibration shot through him as my teeth gnawed on his skin until it turned a bubblegum pink. The fingers of one hand clung onto his hair, as if I would be ripped away from him if I were to let go. I would be, disconnected, from the purest part of me. My innocence. My ecstasy. My hikari.

Hmm. I guessed the drug made me a bit clingy. Must there always be some unexpected side effect? Honestly. But this wasn't as bad as some of the others. This one, Muzion, was it? This one was a rarity, one that isn't meant to mimic past narcotics. It was made to be a whole new experience, so the buyers don't get bored, I guess. Odd, since most customers don't care about the exact pit stops of a trip, just the ride itself.

This one seemed as if it reassigned the feeling I would usually get from deep within my body to the utmost layers of flesh and muscle. It probably just made my mind a little dense, as it should do, and my nerves more sensitive. But you know, I see no difference. When I moved inside the boy whose hair was in total disarray, yet still not knotted, I could feel where the muscles flexed from pain and pleasure.

I rocked into his hips purposely awkward, first falling down only to change direction to some obscure angle at the last second. I didn't go into him as far as I normally would, but I am sure he loved it anyway. The child bellowed my name, my whole name, throwing his head to the pillow. He brought his arms tighter around me, nails digging into my skin. His growing erection pressed against my stomach.

My chest rubbed up against him. I couldn't really feel the scars, but I knew they were there. They were on his back as well. Nowhere else. The boy hid them from everyone. Very well, I suppose, because I hadn't been investigated by anyone: a friend, a police officer, a concerned teacher, yet. There was a bandage applied to his lower back and to one side of his stomach from the last time I hit him.

The hand, which wasn't woven in the snow-white hair, gripped onto the younger male's thigh, cool to the touch. I tilted my head so his upper-right torso supported it, my hair fanning over him as I did so. I moaned quietly. "Ryou." I did it so shyly. This was the first time I had said his name since we began. Sure, I had panted, moaned and groaned, or something along those lines, to vocally express my lust and passion, but that didn't count. Saying his name was different. How? I couldn't put my finger on it in my self-induced stupor.

We both stopped, for a moment. Pants. Long exhales. Dogs barking down the street. There was a car starting up next door. We could tell from the grumbling engine and the squeal of the tires on pavement. That's what we heard. We could smell, well, there was only one true smell in the room. Sex.

Wait. No. Not sex. It wasn't just sex. It was the fragrance of our sex. It was of bitter sweat absorbed by the blankets, the sweeter sweat still on our bodies, his attar heavy aura and, as Ryou had once described it, my very masculine scent. There was blood mixed in the air. The same blood that was setting into the wrinkled fabric near our middles in small blots, crawling down my back from the places the boy's nails extended into my skin too far, and from my bottom lip, where my hikari bit when I first hit the tight mass of nerves in him. I could not forget the red essence escaping the boy from inside him, which had been lubricating my actions through it all.

I rubbed small circles into his thigh, starting off slow then working with a bit more force and speed. Whimpering, my lighter side shifted. He gently kissed the nearest part of me, which happened to be my wrist.

Rolling my head upwards, I looked directly into his face. His pale, pale skin didn't exactly glow, but with his wispy hair tussled all about, strands running in and out in a delicate weave, and his cheeks dusted pink, and his eyelashes curling to make the little that I saw of his eyes seem unreal, he might as well had been. Glowing, I mean. There were shinning tears beaded in his lashes. A frown worked its way into my head. I never meant to hurt him enough to make him cry. Maybe I should have prepared him more. Or at least used something easier on him than saliva.

"Kura?"

"Hmm?"

'"I am hurting."

"Sorry. I should have been gentler with--."

He looked away, the pink tint on his cheeks turning darker.

"No. That's not what I meant. You're not moving, and—I mean, I feel so, so awkward and I need you to, you know, move."

It took several moments to figure out what the fuck he was talking about. I started kissing him on the jaw, releasing his thigh. I walked the tips of my fingers to his pelvic bone. Dragging along it, I reached what was causing my hikari's problem. He whimpered as I trailed the center of my fingertips down the underside of his manhood. For a second, he tightened unbearably around me. Letting out only a broken sigh, I stroked the boy. Once. Twice. Thrice.

Sliding down, I wrung the base of his shaft. Locking eyes, I pumped it, inserting my own farther in his body. I did it again, and again, and again, and again. He was resisting the inevitable climax. He smiled, chewing down on his lip to keep from screaming out, I suppose.

"Kura. That's not what I meant." From around my wrist, the boy moved my hand from his manhood to his waist. I hung frozen above him, alarmed.

His eyes laughed at my concern. I could see it. The way his lids curved into a crescent shape and the way the irises twinkled. "Did I ever say that I wanted to rush? It only hurts when you stop. I never said I wanted it to end, now did I?" He raised his lower body to mine, forcing my entirety into him. Chocolate circles were shut off from view. He retracted, and then came back up. His words began to slur. "I want you to drag the first one out. Drag it out as long as possible."

I kissed the skin between his mouth and chin, beginning a slower, more passionate pattern of ins and outs.

"Why? Shouldn't you ask me to stop?" I whispered as I continued my hot movements.

"But I want this."

"Why?" My skin chaffed against his.

"Because, because…" The words came out softly, and I nearly missed them. They were three, little words. People have given them so much meaning, so much power.

Without pausing, I slid my hands, both my hands, to each of his cheeks. I didn't feel the parting I thought I was going to feel by letting go of his hair. But that was because, now, I knew that when I let go, he would still be there. His three little words promised that.

Softening my eyes, I leaned down, claiming his lips in a kiss.

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

I could not remember a word that was said. Blame the fucking drugs. I knew one thing; he said that I was hurting him. But I could visualize every movement, every smell, every noise, and almost every thought I created in my mind. Like how I thought that he loved what I was doing and how he drew pleasure from my vile thrusts.

I moved my head from leaning up against the hallway wall to the knee brought up to my chest. My other leg was lying bent out in front of me. Yami's little clique, and yes, it is a clique no matter what they say, basically owned this hall. It led the way to extra rooms that weren't really used, and the teacher's bathroom.

There was an understanding among the entire student body not to hang out here, though I don't think we would care. We were considered the most popular group in school, why I do not know. It might have to do with having a world-famous, teenaged CEO, the current King of Games, several pretty well known tournament runner-ups, and, well, we were all relatively nice to look at. And though we collectively were popular, we were not cruel. But that didn't seem to matter to the students. We were popular and that was the reason most of our classmates were allowed to avoid us. This analysis, of course, is setting aside the fact of us being gay. People don't avoid people for being gay. Err, okay. Even now, I would see the falsehood behind my statement.

Whatever the reason for our peers avoiding us, there wasn't any movement through the halls, since the period, which both Yami and I had free, was a minute or so over halfway done.

Breathing slowly, I tried to calm myself down. Though the memories came back every day, I still wasn't used to it. I dreaded seeing those visions of what I did. Ryou had often, in only a couple of words, told me that it wasn't my fault as I was someone else back then. The boy knew how I hated talking about it, so he did his best to avoid it. Sometimes, you have to love how willing he is to respect your wishes.

But he could be just as much of a pain. My eye twitched. I was wearing the white shirt I came to school with, the same shirt that the demon of a hikari left a black print of his lips on. No one had a spare shirt, and I would not shame myself by wearing a gym shirt the entire day. But damn it, I looked like some sort of slut.

I went up as to scratch my jaw and put it back to its original spot. Instead, I left my hand hanging from the column of my neck. No matter how much I understood what I did was wrong, no matter how much I wanted to take it back, I still, still knew that I had enjoyed it. It made a shutter rise through me, but that didn't make it any less true.

The touch of his lips on mine, his piercing moans, my infrequent outbursts of passion, and the fire of being in him all forced a hitch of breath from me to recall. And this first millisecond where I could only just feel his thin digits tracing my bones, I would forget about consequences and morals, and I would feel the urge to hold his body intimately again.

But when that moment passed, I felt as if I was going to vomit.

A loud thud startled me out of my thoughts. I looked to where the noise had come from my right to see my fellow yami's book bag at my side. Its owner smiled down to me, crossing over to my left before kneeling down. The tan male fell backwards, his back against the wall, his legs crossed. "Sorry I took so long, Baki," he said, looking at my face with a smile. "I wouldn't leave until Miss Betty found those damn records. I need those hours. What sort of school requires community service to graduate?"

I didn't say anything back. Normally, we would go into a long discussion on how, even if this was a very good school with excellent faculty and reputation, it was fucked up with just about everything else, especially the student government and the main office. Then we might rant on about how much smaller the sevens are looking this year or just about any grade below us. But I wasn't exactly in the mood for that kind of shit.

My eyes darkened and as I talked, my voice was serious. "Atemu, we need to--."

"Don't speak so loudly. Who knows who is near? And I highly doubt that you want anyone to eavesdrop, now do you?" The bronze male turned his face away from mine. He stared emptily ahead. I noticed how his features distinctly hardened and sharpened. The smile that once greeted the world was gone; a cold cut frown was now in its place.

I opened my mouth to begin speaking when Yami yet again cut me off. "When we set you free, we were all worried. We all knew of your wrongdoings, capabilities of evil, and your unset limits. Since we couldn't just leave you to destroy your light's mind, we planned to not even give you a body. Just separate you from Ryou and leave your soul to wither away without a capsule to contain it.

"But Ryou, he didn't want that for you. He cried and cried for your freedom. He only talked with me, asking for permission for you to live in the world. He told me how he needed you, and how he didn't care how cruel you were, how it wasn't your fault, how much he"—Yami paused for a second—"how much he cared for you. I warned him of the risks and how much work it would be to change you. And yet, he wouldn't back down. He promised me you two, both of you, would be okay.

"We had had our bodies for a month. Everything seemed so perfect, you know? I finally got to be with Yuugi, Seto loved Joey and Joey was finally accepting the fact he wanted Seto, Honda and Otogi were together for a year, Anzu and Serenity for half that. All that, as well as the normal teenaged bull. I thought you just needed your space, and that was why we never saw you."

Yami's voice was distant and echoing. I shifted around, sliding my body down the wall. I lifted my head from the floor to the crimson-eyed pharaoh's lap. My arm lay lazily over my stomach. I slowly adjusted my body accordingly.

"So when Ryou came to my doorstep in the middle of the night, barely able to stand due to blood lost, I felt so clueless. How the hell didn't we see what was going on? He tried his best to bandage himself, like he had been doing, but his wounds wouldn't stop bleeding. Yuugi was sleeping. He never knew, and doesn't now."

Yami's fingers combed through my hair. I decided to wait for him to continue instead of rushing him.

"After he explained what had been going on, I told him that it would be better to let us help. He refused. 'I'll deal with it, Atemu. I know I can. Don't worry about me. I know he would never go too far, Yami.' So, I promised him I would not tell, or interfere. I taught him ways to help the wounds, to make them hurt less and heal faster. I told him to let me inspect him every couple of days, and to call when things got out of hand."

I flinched at the last part of his sentence. "He called that night?" I asked before I was able to stop myself.

"The first time he ever did. He came back for help with bandaging six or seven times, but he never called. I guess he waited until you were sleeping to call me. Not including his thanks and goodbye, he only said one thing. 'Yami, what stops the pain afterwards?' I was always afraid of the night when you would go past the abuse. I told him my fear, but he…"

The pharaoh choked up. He had gone through so much stress, because of me. Though everyone now knew that I had been an addict, I am certain that only Yami knew the truth to why I stopped. Ryou forced me, as a first step to recovery, to tell his friends everything, and tell them I stopped because I was afraid of losing myself, or some bullshit of that sort. They were all willing to accept that, since they were more concerned with helping me.

I fucked things up badly, now didn't I?

"Are you happy you that you listened to him? That you didn't interfere? If you did, I wouldn't have--."

Crimson flashed open, staring sharply at me. As his body grew tense, he spoke with a bold whisper. We were still in the hall, after all. "You probably wouldn't have done a lot of shit if I interfered. Maybe you would have stopped your drug abuse earlier. Maybe you wouldn't have beaten him every other night. Maybe you won't have raped"—It sounded so wrong when he said it—"him. But the boy thought that his way was correct; that it would help you more than anything else. And I listened to him. And you know what? I can honestly say that, yeah, I think that there is no other solution as perfect as that one."

His eyes were burning with the appearance of their owner's strength and respectability. I knew it was just some falsehood in those red irises. You could never put it past Yami to pretend he felt more secure than he actually was. I waited for that one slip of emotion and—there it was. A twitch at the base of his jaw showed me. I looked away from his watching eyes. He relaxed.

My former lover's fingers tangled and untangled my hair as I reviewed all of what was told to me. The digits' movements were slow and steady, calming. By what Atemu was saying, Ryou was, was expecting me to take him. He was prepared to do anything to help me, to help me be normal. Happy. My light allowed me to abuse him, make him feel obligated to sit in his chair to wait for me, and then rip his innocence from him. How could Yami think this was perfect?

The sounds of doors opening and many footsteps echoed throughout the halls, to the one the two of us were sitting in. This period was either over, or was going to be and some classes were let out early. Letting out a heavy sigh, I pushed myself into a sitting position. I got up, my fellow dark doing the same. It had become a routine for us to split up and wait for our hikaris outside their classrooms after this break.

After slinging our book bags over our shoulders, Yami looked up at me awkwardly. This was the most serious conversation we had ever had. "Umm."

I smiled at the teen. "Atemu. It's okay." I said as I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you."

The dark broke out in a weak smile, mimicking my own. "What are friends for?" He coughed, dryly, remembering that we really needed to separate. Both our hikaris could be extremely impatient, and scary, when they were hungry. "Well, I guess I'll see you in, what, five minutes?"

I began to walk backwards down the hall, towards Ryou's classroom. "Are we all going out today?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, see you in a bit." I turned around, walking the proper way. I heard Yami's footsteps start up in the opposite direction. My movements were made without much thought. I had gone through this route many times already.

Perfect. I cannot see how my relationship with Ryou could ever reach that level, because of my actions. I made us tainted, impure. It isn't possible to be perfect but not pure. One is to be free of flaw and the other free of contamination. I corrupted any sort of right and good with my light. Why should Ryou be involved with someone if they aren't, aren't, aren't perfect? He deserves that, after all.

I was now in the hallway containing the senior lockers. I was not surprised to see a pair making out in the corner. The taller, older female held her auburn-haired partner against the wall. Everyone ignored them. They were the infamous, PDA couple of the year. Well, they were tied for first; Otogi and Honda were just as reckless as the girls. It's a bit difficult to even call what the two couples did a public display of affection. Even if someone takes one ounce of self-control from them, I knew we would be having Anzu, Otogi, Honda and Serenity's clothes spread out though the school.

I walked up behind Anzu and flicked the back of her neck. A curse was muttered from the brunette, which was lost inside her lover's mouth. Her hand reached up to the spot I targeted as she turned around. "Bakura! What the hell?"

"You know you will get detention if one of the many jack-off teachers at our lovely school comes by. Do you want to have something like that on your transcript? I can see it now. 'Anzu Mazaki: Perfect record from eighth grade to eleventh, with high grades to boot. But what's this? In senior year, she couldn't keep her hands off a Miss Serenity Wheeler? Tsk. We can't have reckless girls like that going to my college.'" Behind the blue-eyed female, Serenity was smoothing out her clothes.

"Humph. At least I actually went middle school."

I smirked. School was something you never played around with Anzu. She gets too riled up. "Hey, we can't all be lucky enough to have friends in high places willing to create a couple of legal documents here and there."

"Uh! You and Yami got it off easy. Seto should have never done that for you guys. You don't have an honest education."

"Come on, Anzu," Serenity said, already pulling the other teen. She must have sensed Anzu's annoyance. "If we wait by the entrance for the others now, we could make-out and not be late." Anzu considered what her girlfriend said and nodded. Without a good-bye, the two scampered to the nearest staircase. If they didn't have each other, those two would be the whores of the school. They were the horniest people I have ever met.

Dismissing it for the teenaged hormones everyone has at one point or another; I turned around to begin my way to Ryou's class, again. I had only taken two steps before I saw a white-haired person, carrying several large textbooks, papers and notebooks. He walked past the crowd of other seniors, a girl holding a ruined book bag in tote. My hikari was too wrapped up to notice me through the mass.

"Ryou! Let me hold something! My bag is the one that broke!" The girl nagged. I had seen her many times. Actually, every time I picked Ryou up from Advanced Placement Math, the two were talking. Her name was Amy. The girl dressed fashionably, with a touch of bohemian flair. She was complete with a knitted, lavender hat covering her long, curly red hair.

"Well, it doesn't matter. We're here already." My light stopped at a locker only a few feet away from where I stood. I was about to walk up to them, but I had the suspicion that I shouldn't.

"Okay. Hold on a second." The girl's fingers twirled the knob to a lock, opening it seconds afterwards. Ryou pushed the items he was holding into the now open locker.

"There you go. I have to go back to the classroom. Bakura's supposed to be meeting--."

"Before you go, can I ask you something?" I held my breath, staring straight at the pair. Around me, there was the usual noise and chaos of a hallway. But I couldn't take even an ounce of attention from the boy and girl. She was blushing, stuffing her ripped bag into the locker and closing it quickly.

The redhead looked up at Ryou, shifting her weight from one foot to the other. She breathed in before speaking. "Well, um, I was wondering if you were doing anything this weekend."

"Not really. Probably just hanging out with my friends. Why do you ask?"

"Well, so that maybe, you know, we could go. Out."

Amy's and my attentions focused to the brown-eyed teen. He was smiling softly, playing with the holes of his fishnet sleeves. "Amy, you know I love you and all, but I can't. I'm with someone who I am very, very committed to."

"Oh." The girl sighed, her shoulders drooping. She was still blushing, now for another reason. Amy twisted one of her curls, biting her lip.

"I'm sorry. If I didn't, I would have been more than happy to."

"It's okay. I understand. I should have known somebody has her hands on you." Amy relaxed. Maybe she was content now that she got over the whole confrontation. She smiled coyly. "So, how far have you two gone?"

"Amy!"

"Come on. It's a question between two buddies."

Ryou made a face. With a pause, he sighed. "Too far for your virgin ears."

"Shut up!" She mock pushed him. "She must be pretty good in the sack if you stood with her this long."

Ryou laughed. "First off, I am not that type of person. I'm offended that you said that, even if you are playing around. Second, use proper pronouns. He, not she." The teen corrected her good mannerly. My eyes flashed upwards to the clock at the end of the hall. Our friends had been waiting for us for a little over five minutes now. Knowing Yuugi, we are going to be in deep shit for being late for even a minute.

"Damn, was I barking up the wrong tree!"

"Don't be like that," Ryou said, pouting.

"Can I at least know the name of my competition, my rival, my arch nemesis?"

He suddenly looked conflicted, wanting to answer, but yet, not. "I'm not really supposed to say."

She seemed hurt. "Why not?" Why not was right. It's not like he was lying about having someone. Ryou wasn't that type of person to make a lover up. If he didn't want to go out with Amy, he would have told her so. He would have told her that he wasn't attracted to girls, or that he didn't want to ruin their relationship, or that he had a crush on someone else and it would have been wrong for him to date her. The boy would have told her anything as long as it was the truth. He wouldn't lie. Not like this. It wasn't a lie. My hikari had someone.

"We're having a little debate over exactly what we feel for one another," he stumbled. "We don't exactly say much about that. I don't even really think we're really boyfriends yet. It's just, you know, there." Amy was taking in just as many things as I was, but I was far more startled. Ryou had slept with someone who he didn't consider his boyfriend? "I've talked to Yami about all of this; you know him, right? Well, Yami really knows what makes him tick. So I ask for help every once in awhile." Atemu knew? He knew, and he didn't tell me? Fuck it! What is with everyone! First the boy I loved, and now my best friend. (Oh, man. When did Atemu become my best friend?)

"So Yami knows him personally? And you and him have—Wait." Realization stormed the girl's features. "Oh."

Ryou smiled awkwardly. "Was I subtle enough for you?" He was hoping Amy would figure it out. But, that would mean she knows him too.

Amy blushed deeper and shut her eyes. Her hand flew up to her forehead, and her curls swung side to side as she pushed her face into her palm. "Of course! I feel like such an idiot now." Ryou laughed and put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Excuse me." A short brunette watched me with waiting eyes. I stepped aside, allowing her to reach her locker. Amy's red hair was easy to find in the crowd. She was still at her locker. But my light wasn't there. Scanning the heads of the crowd, I didn't see Ryou until he was flush up against me from the front. He limply wrapped his arms around my waist, resting his chin on my shoulder. The boy sighed against the skin of my neck, a brush of his lips a reminder of his existence. "Hey, Bakura. What are you doing here?"

I didn't answer right away. I grabbed his wrists from behind me and brought them out from around me so they were between us. My light was clearly confused with his eyes widened and staring blankly at my actions. "What?"

"When I didn't see you in front of your classroom, I thought of looking for you here. You are now officially holding back the entire clique from our lunch outing." Ryou looked up to the clock. Gasping with a short curse to compliment it, my hikari slapped his forehead.

"Yuugi is going to kill us."

I laughed wholly, beaming down at him toothily, causing the other teen to look up, surprised. "You know, I am more scared of Yuugi than Atemu. That kid is terrorizing."

Ryou drew his hand up to touch my forehead. "Are you feeling alright? You seem usually cheery right now. You never laugh like that in public."

I licked my lips, hesitating for only a moment before answering, "Everything is perfect, little one. Now, come on. Yuugi is going to skin our hides if we don't run."

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

A/N: I got in yuri for my very darn bestest online buddy, setoswhiterose. I'm much more interesting in the whole yuri thing than ever before. It's just so sad that I get really annoyed with anime girls, and any girls I do like don't have a yuri partner that actually makes sense. Anzu and Serenity is a long-shot pairing, but whatever. When someone is stuck with the anime girls we get and the fact that there are no yuri manga at Barnes and Noble ever (12 Days does not count), I frankly don't mind having an improbable couple.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: hello, hello! How t'you doing today? Very well, I hope. I can almost feel the writer's block I have no clue what I am going to do! I am at a complete loss! AHHH! Help me! I need saving! I am drowning within my own writing ability. Odd, since it is fills only fills a teacup. But still, I'm drowning! Throw me a floatie-ring! Or a tea bag!

Disclaimer: I personally own 51 manga, a zillion old Yugioh cards, a couple of anime movies, final fantasy X, kingdom hearts 1, kingdom hearts 2, two anime-related key chains, a deep yearning for some more manga, two Yugioh posters, Yugioh: The Movie soundtrack, and two manga magazines, but alas, no Yugioh ownership.

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

Chapter 4

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

A fire burned in the teenager's honey eyes. Anger swirled in with the usual calm friendliness of all his features. One hand propped the boy up while the other reached across the table, clasping onto the collar of the offending, black-haired male. This male's boyfriend was trying to pry the two apart in an effort to settle the embarrassment made by his friend's attack. "Take it back," the blond growled.

"Calm down, man! It was a joke!" Honda said, still attempting to separate his friend from Otogi.

"No it wasn't. We all know it's true," the over-confident, black-haired teen said.

"I was not a glutton!" Joey practically whined. The kid needed to work on his defense. He looked around the table, which was made up of two smaller ones pushed together, for support. He didn't get any. Anzu and Honda coughed into their hands. Yuugi and Serenity looked away. Ryou grabbed his veggie pizza slice and bit into it. Yami took a drink from his cup. I stared blankly at him. As a last resort, he sought the help of his boyfriend.

Seto shook his head, and put his hand on his lover's shoulder. "He's right. You were the biggest pig in all the land when you were younger. But you were also irresponsible, incompetent, oblivious, arrogant, stubborn and downright annoying. Not to mention you whined like a dog." People gasped, which was everyone except Yami, the person who voiced the truth, and me. Otogi was released and Joey slid down into his seat, his arms crossed. I sat next to him, so I heard him mumbling, "Cold, insensitive bastard."

"That's so mean, Seto! Don't say that about my brother!" Serenity said, defending her sibling. Her girlfriend nodded. At least one of the siblings' lovers had enough sense to always side with whomever they were dating.

The tall teen just rolled his eyes. "I didn't say that he still acted in such a way, now did I? He is much better," the male paused as he leaned into the hand still on Joey's shoulder and kissed the owner's check, "trained now. Though, instead of whining like a dog, he whimpers and moans like—"

"Okay, everyone! Since that's all settled, let's eat before our food gets cold!" Ryou intervened from across of me, a smile on his face.

Unfortunately for the blond, no one was willing to give up on the brunet's statement as graciously as my hikari. Not even the oh-so-innocent Yuugi was wanting to. The boys probed the completely embarrassed youth and his lover about habits and oddities in the bedroom while the girls, who include Yami, chuckled as they watched on. I silently dazed off toward the group's conversation. Seto actually answered the least revealing questions, which was still enough to cause Joey to hide his bright pink face in his hands. He kept on repeating the same thing into his palms, "My sister is right here."

"I tried my best." I faced my light. The last syllable he said continued into a sigh. "Well, maybe not my best but close enough." His teeth flashed me a warm smile. The boy's still black lips tilted slightly more to one side, exposing more enamel on an inner tooth than its supposed reflection. The inequality was barely noticeable unless you paid very close attention. Ryou's bottom and top front teeth didn't entirely touch, even when he tried to close it. I saw this right now, and I've seen this many times before. Of course, my observations were fueled by my obsession with the child. Before, it was okay. Well, maybe not okay, but I could do it without feeling too guilty. But now, now, I knew…

I frowned and quickly looked around the pizzeria around us. Since Ryou and I sat at an end, I didn't have to worry about looking over someone's head. There were five men behind the counter. Most were toward the back, sprinkling ingredients onto perfectly rounded dough. One was using a pattern of passing from fist to fist to create this circle of the combination of flour, water, oil, yeast, salt and sugar. There was an older blond standing at the counter, barely paying attention to my friends' very personal, and loud, antics.

Now that I noticed this, I saw that every last costumer was ignoring us. They were all regulars; we see them every time we come to this pizzeria. How were they able to pass a blind eye over these people's ruckus? Are we always so bad that people just got used to us?

"Bakura," the other me said loud enough so only I could hear. His lopsided grin was gone, replaced with a mock pout. "Now, Kura, why are you ignoring me? You're making me feel lonely." He said it as freehandedly as how he thought the situation was. It was obvious in the calmness of his body. When I looked down to my barely touched pizza instead of answering, I am sure that he finally got that I was doing exactly as he said: ignoring him. "Oh, I see."

He started shifting around awkwardly. He suddenly shot up and jumped over next to me. The table turned to us as Ryou grabbed my left arm, tugging me up. I still avoided his face, but knowing the fair teen, he would have one of the most realistic fake smiles you would ever see. He has had practice over the years. "I have to speak with my precious yami alone," he explained in an overly sugary voice. "We'll be back in a sec."

Several members of the gang nodded. Ryou yanked my forearm in the direction of the back of the restaurant as the others continued whatever they were talking about. I probably don't even want to know. We weren't the most perverted bunch in school for nothing. It might have to do with the fact that everyone but two people was coupled with each other. And I won't put the fact that most of the members were sexually active on a weekly basis past me for a second.

My light swung the door open to the guy's bathroom, which had been tightly packed with two stalls and a sink. The doors to both stalls were open, revealing a completely empty restroom. It was clean, with only three of four graffiti marks scribbled on the paint. With all the teenagers that came from my school to eat here, three or four is amazingly low.

Ryou walked me to the middle of the room, stopping for a moment. Just when I thought he was going to release his hold on me, he whipped around and pushed me backwards, still holding my arm. I landed against the wall. My knees gave way due to the sudden force my light applied, so when I searched for Ryou's face, it was above mine.

Well, let's just say this event caused me to be shocked. "What the—?"

I halted my outburst when I looked into his eyes. He was standing straight up with his head tilted to give him a sort of superior presence. His tight lips and fiercely knitted eyebrows exploited the same sense of power. The boy had a tight grip on my bicep and was pushing it very forcefully against the very wall giving me support. "Why would you be ignoring me?" Even his voice had whipped out to sting. But unfortunately for the white-locked kid, his brown eyes showed exactly how insecure he really was.

I sent the slight horror of seeing this painful emotion to the back of my head. I kept our gazes locked, even though the total self-conscious was growing more putrid. "Did I do something wrong? Did I—I—I say something wrong? Did I take a step in the wrong direction? What the hell did I do?" My light half yelled, half pleaded. He held gallantly onto his stance of a combination of defense and offense. I wished I paid attention to those strong aspects of his body. But damn, his damned eyes. Damn, damn his eyes. They were starting to shine blindingly and blink rapidly.

Licking my teeth once over, I used my right hand to get myself up again. My throat was dry as I said; "I overheard your conversation with that Amy girl near the lockers." Now that he lost the height advantage, the rest of his fortifications crumbled. My hikari's arm fell limply to his side. His posture stayed the same, but there was clumsiness behind it, so it robbed the boy of any authority. The lips that were tightly closed before blossomed open into an indifferent pose, a blush high on Ryou's cheeks.

"You heard us? And, and what do you think of what we—I said?" I could depict a hint of hopefulness in his words. Did he want my blessing for his new lover? The lover who he hadn't shown me, even though they were serious enough to have sex?

"What do I think?"

A huff of breath escaped my mouth. I shook my head, dragging my fingers through my hair. I wanted no more to snap Ryou: The one person I ever really wanted close to me, the person I wanted to embrace me and never let go no matter what I do, the person who would give me hope when I ever needed it, the person who I would make moan my name for any to hear when I made love to him, the person who I knew would understand my actions (past or present), the person I would always enjoy killing a Friday night to tend him if he were sick, the person who I wanted to spend the rest of my—no. I won't even say it. Because this person was the same person who I would never have.

"Kura? Answer me."

I glared at Ryou. He blinked in response, taking a step away from me; almost as if he was predicting what I was about to say. Then, I said what I knew I would regret later, whether this time was seconds or hours after it escaped into the room. "Why would I care who you fuck around with?"

Silence greeted my ears. The hikari was shaking and his breathing was heavy. The brown around his pupils dulled and expanded into the pinpoints. For being so entranced with his eyes, I hardly noticed when his stiff hand came flinging across my face. The burning sensation quickly subdued, but was replaced with one that pricked the underlining of my skin like a syringe.

"I. Cannot. Believe. You." He hissed at me. "I cannot believe you just said that. After all we've been through; you dare say that to my face! You clearly don't understand what I told her, you didn't hear me say your name—less, faceless man's identity, but you can still tell me something like that? What would make you—?"

"Come on, my light," I said, stretching the boy's title as far as I could, "I know it must hurt that I might not care. Okay, I do. But do you mind me asking what the name of the man whom you screw is?"

The pale teen shook harder, his cheeks flaming a bright flush. "With your accusations, do you know what the hell you are implying?

"First," my light said, counting on his fingers as he went along, "I was seeing a guy without letting you all meet him. Second, I was having sex with a guy without letting you all meet him. Third, I found some sort of imaginary parallel universe so I can have two bodies: one to go out with my lover, the other to spend almost every hour of my damn existence out of school with you, or in a place where you knew exactly where I was. Because I cannot see how that could ever happen if I only have this body. Fourth, I was having sex with a guy without letting you all meet him! And lastly, I have basically cheated over and over again every time you and I touched." There was a haunting pause when he said this one word. He seemed willing to continue, but I spoke up first.

"Fine! Why did you lie to Amy?"

"I didn't lie to her!"

"So you didn't say anyone?"

"No."

"And you didn't lie?"

"Yes."

"And she clearly knows who this guy is?"

"Yes!"

"Then who did you say? The only feasible person who you could have said would have to be," I said. Somewhere in my mind, I had already finished my thought. When I tried to say it out loud, the second delay between my brain and mouth caught me off guard, causing me to stop. I was still pissed as hell, but now, I was confused out of my mind.

And he could tell by my hesitance to finish my sentence that I was in the middle of working it out in my head. Otherwise known as being as vulnerable as one could ever get. Anger was invoked within my light as he noticed the opportunity to attack. And with the rage and hurt that had seeped into him from my lack of confidence in our relationship (however far we had made it), my lack of sympathy if he actually had been with another man, and (this next reason probably the main one) my lack of understanding how he truly and had always felt about me, he believed that it was more important to hurt me than anything else in the world.

So, my hikari spoke, attacking me with his sharp words. It would take me a while, too long, to think out the real reason of this attack. For now, I took it for what he said: "What reason would I ever have to say your name? You, a no-good, cold, bitchy, pompous waste of a whore who hardly deserves but a fucking minute of my affection."

And that was it. I smiled, relaxed. I could see myself in the mirror above the sink. There was still a flush from anger present near the bridge of my nose, which winged off into my cheeks. Ryou had left a light pink handprint on the side of my face. But other than that, I looked absolutely calm, happy as a clown on LSD.

Ryou, on the other hand, looked like a complete wreck. He stopped trembling. Well, he was more frozen in place than anything. My light's eyes were widely presenting his horror and shock of what he said and his arms hung limply from their sockets. "Oh god. I didn't mean to say that. I—I—It slipped out. I'm so sorry." His lips stuttered out.

I took a step closer to my hikari, lifting my hand. My other self twitched and held his breath upon seeing my movement, turning his head away and closing his eyes. I gave out a low chuckle, my hand landing on his jaw softly. "Little one, you don't need to be afraid. I won't hurt you."

I might have both frightened and comforted the boy with my promise. His brown eyes looked into my bluish-grays. "Bakura, I didn't mean it. You know that, right, Kura? You know how much I l—."

I affectionately petted the side of his face with one fluid swipe. "Don't apologize. You can't even realize how long I've been waiting for you to say something like that." With that, I laid my palm on his waist and turned us around so his back faced the wall. Leaning down and pushing him against the wall, my lips landed on his neck, my tongue and teeth shy of only seconds.

The smaller boy brought me closer via the tugging of his leg against the back of mine, massaging my scalp with sloppy loops and curves. My head rocked as I sucked on his neck, slowly and thickly. Thumbing his ear, I sucked on his flesh, which I knew well was extremely delicate, with a burning intensity. He, unlike me, had forgotten about what had happened just before. The hikari rubbed his cheek against the side of my head, his hips not far from doing the same to my lower regions.

And I tried my best to hold back. I really did. I tried to hold back my own urges, my needs, but to be so close, so, so close, I couldn't stop myself. I just wanted to, you know, make it seem like Ryou and I had done something; the red blotch on the boy's neck the telltale sign. It would appear odd if it looked as if we only talked. Right? Right? Whatever. Believe as you wish. I refuse to think that I wanted to, from the start, kiss him. It was not that. But one might be a bit skeptical as my hands guided themselves up his sleeveless tee and fishnets, easily feeling out every tiny bump underneath. Ryou gasped as my fingers breezed over his chest, applying pressure to his hardening nipples. A moan vibrated to my ears as my knee bent up between my light's legs.

But this still wasn't enough for my ever-growing desire. I strayed to his belt and unbuckled it. There was silent 'slish' as I pulled out the fabric out of the belt loops. Now without the trouble of the binding belt, I freely undid his pants button, never once thinking about the outcome of this stunt. Ryou, surprisingly, was into it all. The second I pulled down his zipper, he grabbed my hand and led it to the top of his now exposed boxers. They were different from those he wore in the morning. They were a blood red, slightly brighter than his tank top. Like puppets on strings, my eager digits played with its elastic. My palm was flat against his stomach as he slid my hand into his boxers.

Earlier today, I lied. I said that if there was a prize for perfect timing, an award, or just a plaque or something, let it be bestowed to the gracious hands of Joey. I flat-out lied. Big time. Because just as Ryou threw his head back into the wall, lo and behold, the door opens. My, I never knew Yuugi's eyes could grow so big and his mouth, so wide. To think that with Yami as a lover, he would be a little less of a prude.

As expected from the shorter teen, whose height now rivaled that of Serenity (finally), he began stumbling over incoherent words. I promptly removed my hand from my hikari's undergarment and walked over to the sink, my eyes rolling in their sockets as Yuugi continued stuttering. After twisting the knob for hot water and dispensing a drop of soap onto the cracks between my fingers, I washed my hands, to be polite more than anything. "…I had to use the bathroom. Sorry that I, hmm, interrupted."

"It's okay, Yuugi." I turned around and faced the rosy-cheeked youth. "You reminded me that I needed to leave."

Both boys looked at me. One of them was having trouble breathing without panting or sucking for breath. The same male had already fixed his clothes and was trying to hide the deepening hickey on his neck. The pharaoh's light asked, "What?"

I wiped my wet hands on the seat of my pants. "Yeah. I forgot I had a meeting with Mrs. Kenyon. I have to get a new thesis for our paper because the stupid bitch didn't like my first one." I hated using Mrs. Kenyon like this. I liked her, and I was one of the top students in all her classes. But I knew that the purple-eyed light held resentment for her. Blaming her was the only thing I would think of at the moment.

It worked. Yuugi nodded, his eyebrow twitching. "Totally understand." What had she done to the boy for her to hate her so much? Heh, I wouldn't be surprised if she caught Yuugi and his dork doing something they weren't supposed to and got detention. Wait. Wait a second. Didn't the hikari start hating her around the time he and Yami started having sex? Ha. I guess I was right. What an interesting development.

I smiled, walking toward the kid, and the exit, when Ryou grabbed my wrist. "Bakura, you don't—."

"Let go, my little Ryou. I must see the teacher. We can always talk, later. Unless you want to talk here in front of Yuugi?"

Violet eyes flashed between the two fair males in the room. As Ryou's grip faltered, Yuugi hesitantly said, "Really, did I intrude on anything? Because if I did, I can easily—."

"It's, it is okay. Bakura, he needs to go. I, I understand. We could always talk later. You read way too much into things, Yuugi." He didn't look my way the entire time he was talking. His thin neck was already bruising.

"Okay, I must leave. See you later, Yuugi. Ryou." And with that, I pushed the door to the bathroom open and left the two hikaris.

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

A/N: Honestly, I had so many problems writing this (have I been saying this a lot, or is it just me?). For a while, I had no clue what I was going to write. But then, when I started, I would write half a page, page, and then I wouldn't be able to write for a week. But I am happy with (most of) this chapter. I am glad I was able to write everyone in the gang to have words (if it wasn't for this chapter, Yuugi, Honda and Otogi would have never been seen and Seto would have appeared, but had said nothing. Silly, huh?) Well, see you soon! Last chapter coming up! Hope to hear from ya!


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hello, readers! Well, this is the last chapter. I enjoyed hearing from all of you. I truly did. I am hesitant to start this, as always. I rewrote this chapter in my head about a hundred times. What first was going to happen is almost completely different than what I have planned now. I decided that is a waste just to sit there (or lie there on my bed) thinking about it, since nothing would ever get done like that. So, let me start and hope for the best!

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

Chapter 5

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

Several hours ago, there were the evident signs of the near arrival of summer. The weather was beautiful, with the sun pouring down upon the Earth with slaps of warmth. There was a bit of a breeze, just enough to negate any heat caused by the sun's rays. In this blissful balance, little boys and girls' laughter rung to me from their origin. Mothers, and in a few cases fathers, brought their children to enjoy the nice air. They did just that as they played with their friends and or siblings on the playground equipment. But everyone was just an echo for me now.

I sat on the most secluded bench I would find. The worn wooden seat was hidden behind the small buildings where the restrooms resided, on the other side of the playground. Nothing much was here, except a few trees and bushes, more benches, and two tables with their own seats. The tables had chess layouts painted on them for whoever wanted to play. The many squares were chipped and long-since faded from years of use without maintenance. The black lampposts that emitted a dull, mustard light lined the pebbled paths, giving me little source of illumination in the dark night.

And here is where I sat, wondering about nothing and everything. After saying my good-byes to the group sitting at the pizzeria table and retrieving my bag, I walked straight here. I didn't bother returning to school to get my motorcycle, or as my hikari saw it, my most prized possession.

It was not my most prized, not even close. I told him that, repeatedly. And every time, he asked for something more important to me than that bike. Though I never answered, I did so out of respect for his feelings. It couldn't ever be special to me because of how I got it. The same appeal that drew people to me in my ancient life attracted the same, horny group. I used that to my advantage. It was amazing how much some people paid for someone seemly untouchable like me. It was usually payment for two or three weeks' worth of drugs. I was lucky enough to have a couple of posh, female clients, who always were extremely content with my performance. The motorcycle was the only gift I had kept. Everything else was burned, given away, or sold to a pawnshop.

Sighing, I shifted in my seat, sliding down the stiff wood into a slouch. I'll probably get sore from being in such a position, but really, I don't care. I hoped someone wouldn't hotwire my bike. No matter how I got it, it was still a good bike. Having it stolen would just add more shit onto an already extremely shitty day.

A frown, that long ago set upon my lips, grew deeper. My arms crossed in front of my chest and I tilted my head forward. I knew that I was just avoiding it. Obvious especially since I came to this park. I didn't really understand what Ryou was talking about, but at the same time, it was at the tip of my tongue.

The "whore" calling also tickled me upset.

Another sigh. I always resented those who ran away. I distinctly remember scolding those who did not do as I assigned because of fear, as well as yelling at them, hitting them, and if serious enough, killing them, allowing their hot blood to run down my arms.

These responses were in my ancient life. Ah. Old times. The times when the dusty sand of the Egyptian deserts swept over my skin, dangerous adventure greeted me with each gold sunrise, riches and treasure pooled with each blue sunset, and when I led many groups of men, much lesser in ability than me. I can still feel the weight of my curved sword, as well as the hidden daggers within my robes. They always called out for a taste of flesh, never satisfied even after I fed them a guard's throat or a noisy villager's chest.

Always free to do as I wish, I easily went through life. There was no worry for me about how I was going to pay for my land, how much should I plant, or who was going to marry this son and such daughter. I got my fair share of treasure, fame, glory and sex. Ha. Ra, did I get my fair share of sex. Never had to beg with the mountains of females, and males alike, lusting for me. For fucks sake, I even found a way to top the Pharaoh! The pharaoh! I actually had the fucking Pharaoh moaning below me.

But, but never once did I care. I slept with person after person after person, most likely impregnating at least one of those pretty, young maidens. All I wanted from it was the climax, power and the knowledge that I could get any damn piece of ass pleasing to the eyes. I hate knowing I did that to another human, even if they were willing and happy. And the one time I loved a person, the one time, I screwed it up.

Maybe I did not truly love him. Just thinking it made my mind and heart scream, but it could be true. Maybe like every time before, I had only wanted to make Ryou mine because of the power I could get from it. Or because I thought he's nice to look like. It could have just been simple bodily attraction.

It's possible. It's feasible.

It's certainly likely, for me.

That's probably it.

I didn't love him. I did not love him. I did not love Ry—

"Backura! My main man!" My head shot up. And there stood man with dirty blond hair covered with an American flag handkerchief. His face hadn't been shaved in weeks, as it seemed. Even in the dim light, I could see how sickly the male looked, with his skin an unnatural yellow and redness engulfing his nostrils.

"Hallo to ya too," he said annoyed after my blinking response. Though he tried to hide his influenced state, the male could hardly stand with both feet on the ground. He tilted forward as he pulled his purple sunglasses from shielding his clear blue eyes.

There he stood, Bandit Keith.

"Dude! Wha' the fuck? Why're you cryin'?" My fingers automatically went up to my face. I felt the wetness of my tears. How long had I been crying? I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand without a second thought before looking back up to the man.

"Heh. Don't tell me I eve' gave my pers'nal best to som' pussy!" He said this good-humoredly. "Haven't see y'ur face inna while. How's you been?" My left arm twitched, knowing something I didn't know. Wanting something that I think I didn't want.

The color drained from my face as my eyes stared blankly at Keith. My heart was beating quicker, and my lungs were being pushed down inside my chest while my Adam's apple was traveling up my throat. I felt the source erecting these symptoms, and I clearly acknowledged that it was fear driving me now.

But, the thing is, why was I so afraid?

Keith would never attack me, no matter how fucked up he was. In the months I had purchased my self-meditated "relaxants," the two of us would have trusted the other with his life. He looked out for me, making sure that when I bought drugs, the narcotic wouldn't mix with the remnants of the previous to harm me. The amounts were usually a fraction of a gram more than what I paid, generous for such an important, well-known dealer. Based on his greeting, the bond that grew past the usual supplier-customer connection still was implanted in his mind, even though I left him without a single word.

So why was I afraid?

"I—I got to go." I said, pushing down on the bench with my sweaty palms. Our eye contact broke as I turned and picked up my book bag.

A hand on my shoulder literally stopped all my movement. "Commun, Backura man! Why so col'? It's just lil' ol' me sayin' hallo!"

I kept in the same position. "I need to go home. My roommate's waiting for me. He's probably worried as shit—."

"Roo'mate? Hey! Issit that Ryou kid?" With the mention of my hikari, I broke free from my frozen state to look at Keith.

"How do you know his name?"

"Commun, man! Ya dun't rememba our last meetin', du ya? Ya talked non-stup bout the kid. Who tha fuck woulda thunk he'll stay wit ya! Good for ya, yanno. Got any acktion lat'ly?

I guess something about me was enough to answer him. It might have been the lack of a response, the way I ducked my head towards my body so my hair fell over my eyes or how I bit my lower lip. I was never one to show a vulnerable side. I knew it. My friends knew it. He knew it.

"Eh? Got yaself some prublems?" He heaved, squeezing my shoulder. "Yanno, if ya need anythang, anything," his voice grew lower, more serious, as he continued, "ya know I gottit." His hand sneaked into his leather vest, moving about as if sliding into a pocket. Keith's fingers twitched as if to pinch something, before retracting out of the vest.

The miserable lighting of the park flickered across the miniscule baggie's plastic. A single droplet of white solid weighed down the baggie which original purpose was to house a coat button. A part of me screamed to reach for it. A part of me screamed to get away from it. A part of me just screamed.

The thing about recovering addicts is that they are always recovering. You will never meet a recovered addict. As they say, once an addict, always an addict. We are all weak, so never offer one his glory. Memories of how hard it was to come clean are always there. Hell, I was uglier coming off it than when I was on. (How Ryou stayed by my side even through that is beyond me.) But memories are memories. A pill right within reach was a pill within reach.

"An' forra friend, I got tha furst fix, free o' charge."

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

Taking a breath, I stepped inside. With all the lights in the house off, only darkness greeted me. There was a similar darkness that I had spent the last fifteen minutes walking through to get home. I strained my ears, attempting to determine where in the house he was. There were no telling sounds, so his location was left a mystery to be solved by trial and error. Letting my book bag slide down my arm onto the wood paneled floor, I closed the front door.

For a moment, I stood still, hoping to hear where Ryou was. The thought that he just wasn't here passed in my mind, but I rejected it quickly. Not out of knowing, but out of desperation. If our fight had upset him so much that he wasn't even willing to sleep under the same roof with me, hell, I don't even want to think what that would make me.

My feet moved me forward, to my light's bedroom. On the way over from the park, I had begun to think of what I could say to Ryou, my hikari. The mass jumble of words and thoughts, though logical separately, made no sense whatsoever together. I could apologize, yes, but how would I explain why or what I was apologizing for? There wasn't a sound case I could have played which would explain everything, without telling Ryou too many lies or too many truths.

From down the short hall, I could see that his door was wide open. I walked to it, reminding myself to not overanalyze what I was going to say. Instead, I would just start. I hope that I just won't say something stupid.

A couple of yards from Ryou's room, my eyes subconsciously turned to look inside my own dormitory. Like my hikari's door, mine was held agape. My vision scanned over the stillness, expecting nothing to be out of order. The sight I came across stopped me in my tracks as my eyes breezed over my bed.

Ryou lay there. His thin body was twisted and curled into a shivering ball on the comforter. With his arms clutching the blanket fabric above his head, my light's face hid within the pillow. A loose white tee, similar to the one I was still wearing, hung onto his body. Since the shirt was too big for him by a size or two, the excess pooled at his stomach.

Without me thinking, again, my legs pushed me forward, closer to my other half. I was kneeling down next to my bed when I finally realized that I had moved in the first place. I gently grabbed onto his shoulder to shake him awake. However, I never got the chance to try. The second the pressure of my touch came upon him, Ryou sprung awake. Well, not in the literal sense. He didn't hop out of my bed or jump two feet above the mattress or anything comical. It was nothing like that. To let me know, the boy just yanked the arm covering his make-up-free face away. He pushed himself into a half-laying, half-sitting position and locked eyes with me. He whispered cautiously, "Hey."

After allowing a minute of mutual, unexpressive staring, I whispered right back to him. "You know, I don't like women randomly sleeping in my bed. Creeps me out."

"Oh? And what about men?"

"That has no concern to you. When a man randomly sleeps on my bed, alert me immediately." We both smiled passively.

"I'll be sure to tell you."

"Oh, please do."

Insert awkward pause. We both blinked several times. Other than that, there was only absolute silence. I noticed in the back of my mind that a bit of light from the streetlamps outside poked through the closed shades.

"Look," Ryou said after he could no longer take the silence, "about what I said earlier, I didn't mean it. I was upset that you accused me of doing things I would never do and it, well, hurt. And then, you were so mean about it, I was afraid and, and—"

I smirked, shaking my head slightly. "Ryou, you did nothing wrong."

"But—"

"Don't deny it. We both know it's true," I said, drawing closer to him. I reached to his neck. On one side, I could see, even in the darkness, the reddish purple blotch on his skin. For most, a hickey marred their skin. However, my hikari was able to play it off as if it were a beauty mark with his quiet confidence. "Are you with anyone else?" I don't know why I felt the need to add "else." But something was right about saying it.

"Never. I was never with anyone else."

"Are you lying?"

"No. And every time you ask, you will get the same answer. And every time you ask, it will be the truth."

With the tips of my fingers, I pressed against the love bite. "I went too far."

"If you think so." He didn't ask me what I meant: was I was talking about the argument, the hickey, both, or something totally irrelevant. I am glad he didn't ask, because I don't think I could have given him an answer. I began to softly rub my palm around him neck. "I hope you know you had us worried."

"Us?"

"Atemu and I." I frowned. Oh, him, that traitor to the cause. "Since you don't share afternoon classes with anyone other than me, you got away with most of the clique figuring out you ditched. But I had to bum a ride from Yami and Yuugi. Yuugi must have told him about when he interrupted us in the bathroom, because Atemu was really uptight."

"Is he ever not?"

"He told me when he dropped me off not to go looking for you. You wanted to be alone and I had to respect that. But, um, may I know where you were?"

Damn, it wasn't supposed to come back to what I did. I frowned, considering saying no. His hand went up to hold mine within a cool curve. "At the park. Sitting alone for most of it."

"Most of it?"

"I saw an old friend."

"Who?"

"Keith."

Ryou knew who he was. I told him all about the man when I became clean. He certainly remembered the one who once supplied my drugs. The hikari's pale hand held on tightly and his eyes grew wide with what I believe to be shock, and fear.

"Oh? You did? How is he?" Ryou said lightly. He added, a bit more seriously, "What did he say to you?"

"Just some ordinary hello stuff."

"Anything else?"

As we stared at the other staring, I wonder: what should I tell him? How much? Should I tell him of Keith and his offering? Should I tell him how I took the offering after some thinking, released it from its plastic baggie prison and positioned it at my mouth? How I could almost taste it in my mouth? Should I tell him how, as my mind looked at Keith's red nose, my heart was registering the tears gathering on your lashes as I moved inside you? How the thought of you had me both wanting and detesting the offering?

Should I tell him how proud Keith looked when I gave him back his gift?

I leaned my entire body forward and up, with Ryou watching and waiting for a response. Sliding my feet out of my Vans, I moved my hand from the side of the boy's neck to the crook of his underarm. I crawled onto the bed, lying next to him with my elbow helping me gain height over him. His chill and smell comforted me, reminding my body of all our shared, slow mornings. Tilting my head to his face, I whispered only a few things. "I said no. I couldn't do it again. Not to you. Not with you."

That was all he needed to hear. All he wanted to hear. His mouth neared mine, grazing them. "Bakura, you're the one. The guy I told Amy about."

"I know."

"So you finally—?"

The dear boy never got to finish his thought. He tried, moving his lips and mumbling several more syllables. They were lost within my mouth as incomprehensible vibrations. Ryou must have really wanted to scold me, for it took him those seconds to properly react to the kiss I brought to us. As my lips continued their survey, the hikari must have realized what I was doing because he stopped trying to talk. I felt his smile and I separated us.

"You talk too much."

"Oh, really?" Before I could find something to do with myself, Ryou moved his left hand to the back of my head, fingers getting lost within my hair, and his right hand to the small of my back under my shirt. His lips feathered over mine, calling me to him in clear lust.

But, I couldn't. This wasn't right. I raped him. (The hand on my back slid into my jeans at the hip.) He was nowhere within age, but I slept with him anyway. I knew for a fact that he was the first one out of our friends to lose their virginity. (It pushed farther in, pulling that side of my pants down my waist by several inches.) Even the two horniest couples of the school waited until their junior year to sleep with their girl/boyfriend. (He stroked my exposed skin, already moving to more personal areas.) Ryou was what, fourteen? Fifteen? (The boy's digits found their way to my front and teased my boxers. They pulled down my pants a bit farther at the edges.) "This isn't right."

"Bakura," my hikari said comfortably against me, going just as far as unbuttoning my pants. "It's okay. Forget everything other than this moment. I never pushed you away, and I never will. I told you how I feel that night and it still holds true. I would do anything to be with you. And if that meant to wait here for you every night, if that meant sleeping with you before I would have liked, I was more than happy to do it. Don't suffer because of something we did as kids."

"I still did what I did."

"Yeah, I know. But did you know the drug you took that day made you weak? I could have easily pushed you away. I could have said no. I could have told you again at any time that I loved you. But I didn't. I am just as guilty as you." Ryou's grip in my hair disappeared with a final touch to my groin as well. He kissed me. I took a shuttering breath and shimmied out of my jeans. The denim fabric slid off the bed and onto the floor, along with the bedcovers previously keeping my light warm. Now with the two of us only in boxers and a tee, I threw one leg over Ryou's stomach and sat down on his waist.

I slowly kissed his collarbone. My nervous heart pumped hardly, not completely believing this was true. Not completely believing that we would actually get through this. Not completely believing that Ryou loved me. Not completely believing how soft his skin was. I sucked on his skin, my hands awkwardly fiddling with the hikari's shirt. I had wanted all of this for years. I just hope we weren't going too fast for our own good. The light's hands went to mine, stroking them with such a gentle touch. Relax, the touch said. Relax. Enjoy and relax.

So I did. I forgot about my friends in our not-really-a-clique clique, the community service hours needed to graduate, gym uniforms that for gods' sake will forever be wrinkled, and the golden items I spent a lifetime and a half attempting to steal. I forgot about the drugs, the insecurities, the abuse, the dealers and the rape. We will talk about it, later.

Right now, it was just Ryou and I.

I pulled up his shirt, throwing it sideways into the dark room, my own soon to follow. I can't say the prospect of removing clothes wasn't getting me excited. With each removed piece of cloth, I would get hungrier for his flesh, and he, my lips on him.

After discarding the two shirts, I bent down to his navel. My teeth bit its rim, earning a gasp as a reward. My tongue, dipping shortly inside, licked up his chest, bisecting his ribcage. Most of his scars faded away. I could feel it on my tongue. He had already begun to sweat, his taste intensifying on my taste buds with each touch. Ryou's fingers made their way to my shoulders, unceasingly running along the bones under my skin. I sucked on the already bruising hickey. The hikari kissed my temple repeatedly seeing as that was the only part of me he could reach.

So far, our lower halves had stood still, excluding the stirs we both received from our lengths. Without warning, I pressed my pelvis into his, dragging it towards his stomach. His breath hitched and in response, I dug back down. I did it again and again. The friction drove us both crazy with pleasure. Ryou was moaning with his head turned away from me and I was still at his neck, shaking as I kissed it. His nails sunk into me, so hard I wouldn't be surprised if it cut and bled. Both of our erections were growing now with the steady rhythm.

When he cried out my name, I knew it was time to get to the next level. Ryou made a whining noise when I did stop. I smiled at his panting and tussled appearance. Kissing around the stud through his eyebrow, I stripped myself of my boxers. I was never one to be embarrassed by my body. So when Ryou's glance fell down to view the little he could of my muscular body, I felt more aroused.

My hikari took timidly off his boxers as I watched. As he lay back down, eyes closed and arms thrown above head, I felt as if I could never breathe again. He was, just, beautiful. I touched him, causing a shiver to run up his spine. I kissed him soon afterward. He was the usual salty bitter, but an indescribable additive made the taste solely his. I was seconds away from engulfing him in my mouth when his voice spoke up. "Kura, take me," was his needy plea.

"'Kay." I glanced around the room for something to use as lubricant, knowing that I had none and guessing Ryou did neither. Before I found a replacement, however, I felt the boy's tongue encircling the three, middle fingers of my right hand. The warm muscle ran from the base of the digits, over the tip and back again over the top.

When he released me, I tenderly moved him into a comfortable position. I brought our lips together, sliding in a finger at the same time. He winced, but did no more. It had been too long since the last time. His body had forgotten the pain and the awkwardness. It would hurt just as much as if he were still a virgin. I whispered this all into his mouth as more fingers joined the first, but he only kissed me with a fervent that told me that he knew.

Now done with the preparations, I held the hikari's wrists down next to his ears. I kissed him roughly to distract the light as I penetrated him. He groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. He was tight and hot. My middle and index fingers ran a path over the visible veins at his wrist. Leaving his mouth, my kiss went down to his collarbone. I retracted and came back to Ryou with full force. He cried out and tried to pull his arms out of my grip. Knowing full well not to for risk of injury on both our parts, I held him down.

For the beginning, he could repeat these actions as I repeated mine. He was hurting, but I wasn't going to stop. I waited until, instead of a scream of pain, a scream of pleasure erupted from the hikari. Then my hands let go of their captured wrists and went to embrace the shaking boy. He smelt and felt so good. Apart from the fact that embracing him was embracing him, it also allowed me to increase the speed and power of each thrust that was tearing him with every move.

Maybe what he wanted was the pain, so he could feel like a virgin again. It was something my light deserved. I mean, there is no doubt by Monday our friends would know we're together, and had already had sex. Actually, it would be of no surprise if they knew by the end of the day. But for everyone but Atemu, this night would be Ryou's first time. Ryou had lied in the past about being a virgin, and he had never introduced them to someone he might have been dating, so there seemed to be little reason he would be anything but. There was the inconsistency with Amy, but that was small. Atemu would understand, and he would join our fabrication. It seemed like he had been playing along the entire time, with one side devoted to Ryou and the other to me.

And we would let them, all our friends, think that. This night, I made love to Ryou for the first time, and no one had had him before me. I moved with him like I did with no one before. I wanted him, and I trusted him to satisfy my desires. Maybe once our relationship was established, I might confess to our friends. Maybe. With my cheek against his, I whispered my love into his ear. Tears, which had been running in lines from his eyes, were wiped onto me. The light wrapped his legs around my waist, pulling me closer, in response.

A thin layer of sweat lined my entire body and even more covered my hikari. Every time we moved, our skin seriously chaffed against each other. I was burning in and out and all over. I knew we were both close to climaxing. I bit into his lower lip, going as far as actually just chewing on it. I wrung him, covering his lips with a final, deep kiss. Ryou withered further into the sheets. I pumped him in time with my thrusts, adding an extra bit of force with every alternative hit. The light pressed his self toward me. With one last wanton moan, he released his seed into my palm. Whatever slipped through (which was most of it) came onto my lower abdomen, even then some falling down to his stomach. Encouraged by his come, I fell into him twice more before erupting inside him.

I let go of him and slumped into his chest, letting my lips kiss his skin lazily. He tasted like our combined perspiration. I felt so tired, like I would fall asleep, but the aftereffects of lovemaking ran through my blood. They were making me shake and tingle all over. We were silent for a time. I continued to kiss him as I stared into his misted eyes. Tears stained his face. I touched them. "It'll hurt less next time."

"Hmm?" The tired boy said without a lapse of time to interpret what I said. I smiled softly, laggardly moving the tips of my fingers up and down his sides. I tried my best to ignore soft, long bumps in his flesh. Letting what I commented absorb into his hazy mind, I trailed his chin with my nose. "Who says there'll be a next time?" Ryou responded, stroking my back. Ryou's legs slid down my back and thighs, resting in the crook of the inner knee. His chest rose and fell heavily, his heart taking its time to relax.

"I do."

"And if I say no?"

"Then I'll find a man to sleep with me instead of you, woman. How would you feel if I were to go all gay on you?" Though I laughed, he tensed and kept quiet. Being so close to him, I detected it easily. Frowning, I raised my head to look into his eyes. All I saw, however, was the side of his face. He looked blankly off the side of the pillow, his hair sticking onto him with sweat. "Ryou."

"Yeah?" He said, still looking away from me.

"You know I was joking."

He gripped onto my shoulder. "I know that I haven't been the only person you've been with."

Ah. So, that was what was bothering him. "Do you think I enjoyed being with them? Prostituting for drugs is fun? 'Course not. This time has been the first in a while that I actually enjoyed sex. First time ever that I loved it."

I kissed Ryou's collarbone, hugging him tightly. I breathed onto his skin, pleased with the shiver doing so caused. "I am letting go of so much being with you. Do you know how many days pass without me once thinking about taking something? None. I can make a bad day a good day with some. I can make a good day a great day with some. And on a great day, I just feel the need for shit. Being clean for two days, a month, five years or a lifetime makes no difference." My head rested on his chest, my hair fanned out in a halo. "I need you to trust me, I need you to be with me, or I am sure to fall. So, my dear hikari, are you up to it?"

"You're putting too much trust in me. What happens if I can't, if I fail?"

"Then we'll worry about that later."

He chuckled. "You're such a dork. But I guess you're allowed to be." The next three words came out softly, and I nearly missed them.

I smiled and went to kiss him, allowing myself to imagine things I never allowed myself to imagine before. They were images of killing a Friday night to tend him because he was sick and of dark movie theaters. And I knew I could have these things. His three little words promised that.

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

The Beginning

-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-ooo0oo0o0oo0ooo-

A/N: Tada! The end, err, beginning! Or maybe, the couple's beginning and what-is-written-about-it's end.

I'm in the middle of writing a Kingdom Hearts Riku/Sora one-shot, and have started my massive puppyshipping. I am in the middle of a rather difficult couple of months in the school year, so writing is not my main priority. Editing this story has given me some hope. I got rid of some awkward or cheesy parts that have been bugging me ever since I posted the fiction. I also added in more things about the gay community, something I've just recently noticed is rare to the site… unless a person is one-dimensionally homophobic. Going to my school's GSA has finally set things straight (sorry, but I couldn't resist the obvious pun) in my mind, and I hope to reflect it in my writing. My story seems more natural now with the edits, though this chapter seems a bit more smutty... I hope I get the Internet soon because I really, really miss fanfiction. Sigh. Well, hope you drop a review!


End file.
